22 Apr 2003
I've never felt sympathy for virus writers, but after a week of trying to work from Spain, it's apparent why someone might be annoyed enough with Telefonica to dedicate something destructive to it.
In theory, GPRS is alive and well all over Europe. And kudos to Telefonica for this, at least: it is one of the mobile providers which does actually offer a GPRS data service. After that, it gets hard to find kind words.
Part of the problem, it must be admitted, is Microsoft. I'm using an XP notebook, and a Windows Powered Orange SPV phone. But Microsoft, it seems, has never really understood serial communications. A serial comms link is a chain of events, and you have to be able to see right through them. But my Windows machinery simply can't seem to tell if the GPRS link is open, or whether there is a fault in the SPV phone, or whether the phone is not plugged in the right USB port (yes, really!) - it just reports an error in the remote device (modem) attached to the network. That would be the GPRS link, then...
And Telefonica? Well, it seems to be happy to switch GPRS off and on. The big "G" that indicates a 2.5G data link appears, then disappears. It seems equally happy to describe itself as the sole local network. There are in fact two others, Amena and Airtel, but Telefonica simply says it can't provide the information that would allow you to switch. And when you can get a GPRS line, it's a lottery as to whether Telefonica has a working DNS. No DNS, no link to the net. I had to use my own DNS machine in London. Not ideal.
At the end of a week of this mess, I'm not really going to write a Telefonica virus. That's only because I lack the skill, though. I'm annoyed enough to try.
Hi, I live in Spain for about
3 months of the year, have a house in Spain and love Spain, BUT , NOT telefonica, Spain is a true progressive member of the EU, Telefonica on the other hand is a 4th World Country. They do not have ONE member of their engineering staff who speaks English,despite the fact that
over 600.000 , yes really, 600.0000 people live a on the Costa del Sol. Trying to get help or information regarding your phone service ( or more likely lack of ) is daunting to say the least.
Now you have it , now you don't is the best they can do, if you have an accounts query ! What's that ? never heard of it! you wish a refund for services they charged you for but never received, well buddy stand in line in a long queue. We arrived last Saturday, to check our home, had been trying our line in Spain from Ireland before we came out, Zilsch, complained on Saturday and had to wait until Wednesday to get the line restored. All the time being told our line was fine and the fault was in our house, then, by a miracle they were able to fix it from the exchange !!...We have been charged for an ISDN line which they removed in September 2006 and it's now March 2007. The real kicker is this: ring 1004 0r 1002 and ask for an English speaking operator and you will get a charming lady or gentleman, he will ask you for a Spanish mobile number to call you back on, no Spanish mobile? Tough , no help!! As you can gather we are not fans of Telefonica!
Posted by: Amergin 08 Mar 2007
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